Last night at Camden Yards, the winds of change — literally and figuratively — were in the air. The big news yesterday was not the victory that Baltimore had over Toronto, but it looks like the youth movement and the future of the organization will be showed in the weeks and months to come. In other words, the future is now.
Rookie pitcher Jason Berken — who was not even given an invitation to Spring Training — was effective as he gave up two runs in five innings of work earning his first major league win. He did get touched up early and missed his spots at points; however, he battled throughout his outing and kept Baltimore in the game.
Nolan Reimold hit his first Camden Yard homer in the eighth inning, and Aubrey Huff added a solo shot — his his 8th — in the second inning. Brian Roberts drove in two runs, with Jones hitting his 11th home run — a two run shot — to give Baltimore the lead in the fifth inning.
The Orioles have won four out of their last five games, and the offense came back on Tuesday night by pounding 14 hits. As well, they’ve sent the Blue Jays to their eighth straight loss, sending them literally into a freefall after spending most of the young season atop the American League East.
Sadly, the conditions last night in Baltimore ushered the lowest attendance ever Camden Yards — 10,130 (and it looked to be even far fewer than that from where I was sitting) — however, those who ventured out to the park with a misty rain, overcast skies, and a less than warm May night were treated a great victory by the Orioles.
However, the biggest news of the night came in the second inning of the MASN game broadcast as team president Andy MacPhail announced that standout prospect Matt Wieters will indeed finally debut in the majors, as he’ll suit up for the game against the Detroit Tigers on Friday. Moreover, Wieters will not sit on the bench — he’ll play and it will be interesting who will be cut.
I and about 12 or 13 other Oriole bloggers were in the MASN Suite for “Orioles Blogger Night” in an event held in conjuntion with the regional sport network and the team, and the announcement was made while we bloggers along with some other prominent members of the media, and let’s just say pretty much everyone was shocked. Most figured that a pitcher was going to come up and announcement was going to be made in that respect — but the scene was somewhat dramatic last night and was the talk of the hour.
There will be a recap of Blogger night and pictures coming shortly as well as the Aubrey Huff ESPN Zone appearance, but first I have to go through everything…
